Newcomer / Intro stuck in gravity wells...

[cmndrcravens]

During my first couple of days everything was great. For some reason now, every place I go I drop out of hyperspace jump and throttle back and pull away soon as I get there like always and
now I cannot get out of 30mps and essentially go nowhere. Usually some npc finds me eventually and tries to kill me. I've even self destructed 3 times just to get out of the situation. What is going on?

 

[Ancipital]

The easiest way to avoid this is to just throttle down before you come out of hyperspace. You can actually throttle down as soon as the audible countdown starts- so you have loads of time. That way, when you come out, you won't be zooming towards the star at high speeds. Hope that helps!

If you do get stuck in a gravity well, you need to engage supercruise and align with the escape vector to climb out of it, by the way. It can be a bit alarming, but if you keep your cool, it's pretty easy, and you'll often get away relatively unscathed. Not losing the plot is the hardest part

 

[D'Kaeth]

During my first couple of days everything was great. For some reason now, every place I go I drop out of hyperspace jump and throttle back and pull away soon as I get there like always and
now I cannot get out of 30mps and essentially go nowhere. Usually some npc finds me eventually and tries to kill me. I've even self destructed 3 times just to get out of the situation. What is going on?

Is this happening when you arrive at a new star system? What sort of a controller are you using? HOTAS? Mouse and keyboard? Perhaps some of your key mappings got reset in one of the recent patches. Just a guess, of course.

 

[Feldspar]

Is this happening when you arrive at a new star system? What sort of a controller are you using? HOTAS? Mouse and keyboard? Perhaps some of your key mappings got reset in one of the recent patches. Just a guess, of course.

Yes, this sounds just like a problem with your throttle and not gravity wells.

 

[zumbledum]

having any graphics related problems in other games? it sounds like your loading into the world for a time before its displayed. if your playing in open try it in solo see if it happens there to.

 

[sharpiejas]

What is a 'gravity well'?

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

aim properly and don't rush

I was once caught in a planet's gravity well when I was still learning how to play. I was interdicted and dropped out of SC as I was too close to the planet (luckily sans interdictor). I was too eager to get out of there and rushed it, maxing out at 100 km/s. Thought I wasn't moving, but I was, just incredibly slowly. Dropped out of SC and tried again, but didn't receive the 'escape vector' message, probably because I was poorly positioned (and that time my max speed was 30 km/s). Third time was a charm, and I took my time over it. Once I was well away from the planet I was able to toddle off to my destination.

I suggest you position your ship so that the planet is directly behind you. Then when you try to enter SC the escape vector should be ahead of you. Let your speed go up till it's measured in 'c' and by then you should be far enough away to wend your merry way.

Here is my first attempt. You can see that I was too eager by looking at the scanner. See how the planet's gravity 'sphere of influence' covers much of my scanner, and the escape vector is shown on it as I veer off, disappearing when I'm angled away from it.

Spoiler

A gravity well is essentially the pull of the astronomical body. It has you in its grip and you are falling 'down the well' towards it.

 

[Nightjar]

Umm. You throttle back? When I hit a system (using advice above too) I work out where I am and throttle UP Are you truly in a gravity well, or just unable to go more than 30? If the latter, then there's a problem with your setup (if you have throttled up) - if the former you're just being unlucky ... unless it happens every time

 

[cmdr lowest]

Yeah, make sure you are in supercruise. Hit the 'J' key (by default)

 

[cmndrcravens]

Umm. You throttle back? When I hit a system (using advice above too) I work out where I am and throttle UP Are you truly in a gravity well, or just unable to go more than 30? If the latter, then there's a problem with your setup (if you have throttled up) - if the former you're just being unlucky ... unless it happens every time

Yeah, it happens every time. I didn't have any trouble the first few days...I didn't change anything I was doing. Maybe I'll try to uninstall the game and reinstall it.

 

[cmndrcravens]

Thanks to you guys I figured it out...guess during the "upgrade" my controls got mapped differently for some reason and I didn't notice. Thank you all.

 

[Gavski]

Maybe I'll try to uninstall the game and reinstall it.

Ungh-ungh-ungh...so glad you didn't do that! Seems to be the supposed answer to any problem for some, and it can just be a waste of time. It can be the answer (corrupt files etc.), but I always advise people to try other things first. Glad you got it sorted.